Now, there is more evidence of those values that print delivers; values that readers and advertisers are, and will continue to be willing to pay for. “Study after study is showing what print can deliver to advertisers and to readers at the same time. The return on the investment is great for both customers.”
Print has not lost the values that make it important to loyal readers in any sector. Print is far more trusted than online, readers love the permanence of print and the experience of browsing through the pages of a favorite magazine discovering new ideas and products and services through advertising that they would never have searched for in a digital world.
Too many sales trainers take the “be like me” approach to teaching advertising sales. But there are successful advertising sales people of every size and shape, and of every personality. Successful advertising sales people, the ones who sell more then their competitors or more then their colleagues, make the extra sales because they do one or more of the 5 Secrets of Advertising Sales Masters
Today, advertisers want and need a complete solution. And advertising sales people need ad sales training on how to sell hybrid advertising packages where the value is greater than the sum of the parts. Like a hybrid car with two engines that work separately and together to provide higher mileage, a hybrid ad sales proposal provides the advertiser with coordinated media elements that may include premium display to build interest and brand trust and programmatic impressions to reach that same customer as they move through the purchase decision process.
In our capitalist world, prices of inventory are simply the result of the mysterious workings of supply and demand. The massive growth of the supply of inventory isn’t within the control of publishers. But they can and should develop a genuine plan to drive up demand for their inventory. How do you drive demand?
You don’t have to be a television company to synchronize a campaign with a TV media-buy. Will your sales team know how to propose how to tie-in ads on the tablet-delivered site tie in with the TV ads on the screen across the room? If not you’ll be missing an opportunity.
Recent increases in print sales for Men’s magazines show why selling print and digital through the same “hybrid” sales force can be an advantage for print publishers. We have observed that when a print campaign is won, the timing on that will be well before the digital campaign is decided. Long-ago we wrote this ad-sales tip on how to leverage that print win into digital revenue.
When I read the story in the Harvard Business Review about the need to approach selling differently when selling to women, I was very curious. Is this an issue I need to understand better? Do I need to learn about nuances of selling to women versus men to teach advertising sales training at the highest level?
It might need to be said that media companies too need to be built on teamwork because when it comes to advertising sales, advertisers tend to be like sheep. The more one sales person is successful, another will find it easier to win business because other advertisers will follow.
In the marketing world of 2013, creative that works in one medium may not reach enough of the target audience effectively. With shorter attention-spans, and so many attention-demanding media, achieving engagement with the creative is tougher than ever.
Clients are finding that an industrialized – assembly line – approach may make more creative but not more effectiveness. Just like more movies from a studio doesn’t mean more movies that are successful, there is a limited about of great creative talent to make great advertising.
Publishers can help by executing creative because they know what works in their market better than anyone.
